Bright Young Librarians: Michael Taylor
Our series profiling the next generation of special collections librarians continues today with Michael Taylor, Assistant Curator of Books and History Subject Librarian at Louisiana State University.

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How did you get started in rare books?

I applied to be a student assistant at my college library when I was a freshman, really just looking for a job shelving books. I ended up being hired by the Special Collections department because they needed somebody who could read music. Working with old books seemed a lot more interesting than any of my other job options, so I stayed on until I graduated, then went off to Indiana University to get my MLS, specializing in rare books and manuscripts librarianship. A part-time job in public services and digital imaging at the Lilly Library turned into a full-time one, then the opportunity to work as a curator came up at LSU. It has all been a great experience!

What is your role at your institution; what do you specialize in as a librarian?

I'm a jack of all trades. Acquisitions, reference, outreach, teaching, exhibitions... there's a lot to keep me busy! I like to spend as much time as I can developing our various rare book collections, working on exhibits, and just digging around in the stacks to see what I can find and share it with others. I hesitate to say I have specialized in anything (I actually think being a generalist has its advantages), but I guess I feel most at home working with early printed books, natural history, and Americana. I have also enjoyed doing some research on antebellum plantation libraries and early print culture in Louisiana.

Favorite rare book / ephemera that you've handled?

My interests are very broad, so it's hard to pick a favorite, but I definitely have a soft spot for Edward Curtis's and Karl Bodmer's books on Native Americans, which we have at LSU, and I'm still pretty excited about one of our recent acquisitions, Jan Vredeman de Vries's book on linear perspective from 1604, sometimes considered an early example of surrealist art. I also like books that have an interesting "life story." For example, we have a few books from the library of Pierre-Clément de Laussat, the last governor of colonial Louisiana. He included a moving passage in his memoirs about how he acquired books as a young man in France in the 1770s but then had to leave many of them behind in Louisiana after he handed it over to the Americans in 1803. "There was no memory, no joy, no sorrow in my life in which the books had not played some part," he wrote. "They had followed my fate, and one of its strange aspects was that I had come to the banks of the Mississippi to separate from them." I think he would be glad to know that some of his books are still here over 200 years later and are still being used.

What do you personally collect?

I got hooked on the history of cycling several years ago and have found it to be an affordable area to collect. Even bicycle "incunables" from the 1860s and '70s are relatively cheap. Most of my collection is from the 1890s. I have found some terrific postcards, photographs, catalogs, trade journals, and advertising ephemera, and even managed to acquire a small archive of a bicycle manufacturing company with interesting letterheads from all around the U.S.

What excites you about rare book librarianship?

I can honestly say I learn something every day, and hardly a week goes by when I don't find something surprising in the stacks. Working with donors can be full of surprises, too. I recently went to a donor's house to pick up a box of magazines and left with 500 science fiction novels. I also love it when I can get other people "fired up" about rare books. Our annual showing of Audubon's Birds of America draws a crowd of over 200 people, ages 8 to 80. If they aren't glowing with excitement when they come in, they definitely are when they leave! The event was featured in a 2011 Wall Street Journal article titled "The Joys of Slow Looking."

Thoughts on the future of special collections / rare book librarianship?

Digitization will continue to reshape the special collections landscape, but I think it will have a generally positive effect. It's not like the physical books and archives are going away. We're just opening another door to them. LSU's school slogan is "Love Purple, Live Gold." In Special Collections, I like to say that we "Love Digital, Live Analog." Researchers will increasingly rely on digital resources when they simply want to read a text. For the most part, I'm cool with that. As long as we are able to articulate why physical books still matter, we will still have people coming through our door. At the end of the day, I don't see why e-books and rare books can't coexist.

Any unusual or interesting collection at LSU you'd like to draw our attention to?

As a matter of fact, we just started a new one. After taking a course at Rare Book School this summer about non-traditional materials, I came home and started brainstorming with my colleagues about what we could collect at LSU that might appeal to people outside of our usual clientele but also support scholarship in a variety of disciplines and complement our existing holdings. Vampire literature was what we came up with! I'm sure it will raise a few eyebrows, but I think it fits perfectly with our collections of Gothic and Victorian literature, science fiction and fantasy, occult science, "outsider" literature (from the library of Romanian-American writer Andrei Codrescu), and even our local writers collection (Anne Rice is a native New Orleanian, and a surprising number of vampire novels are set in Louisiana). As questionable as some of the material may be as literature, it's a publishing phenomenon that has endured since at least the 1750s, influencing everything from opera to advertising, and except for a few things like the first edition of Bram Stoker's Dracula, it's something we can collect on a budget.

Any upcoming exhibitions you're working on?

Our next exhibition will be La Langue Mondiale: French as the Language of Art and Thought. It is being produced in conjunction with a visit by Marc Fumaroli, a French historian, former director of the Académie française, and author of When the World Spoke French. The first-floor gallery is being curated by students. Upstairs, we'll be displaying a few volumes of plates from the Description de l'Egypte (the record of Napoleon's scientific expedition to Egypt), selections from Diderot's Encyclopédie, a section on French naturalists and explorers, some volumes from our stellar collection of early French dictionaries, and two cases of materials about what I call "the Enlightenment in the swamp," i.e., philosophy and science books from eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Louisiana libraries.

Review: Art Made From Books
ArtMadeFromBooks.jpegThe fall issue of FB&C always contains a holiday gift guide, in which Nate Pedersen and I highlight about fifteen bookish items that might make a nice present (for you or for someone else). Obviously, this list often contains books, old and new. There were three new books that made the list this year -- Art Made From Books: Altered, Sculpted, Carved, Transformed (Chronicle Books, $27.50) is one of them.

Compiled by Laura Heyenga, with a preface by Brian Dettmer and an introduction by Alyson Kuhn, it is, by coffee table book standards, rather slim and handy. It is an anthology of artists who use books as their primary material in making art -- this could mean "treating" a book with any number of tools and instruments, from scissors, X-Acto knives, and needles to ink, paint, and glue.

The first thing one notices about this book is the creative binding -- the front and back boards seem to float in place while the sewn (and glued) signatures are fully visible along the spine, where a strip of chartreuse binding tape holds it together. Inside is a beautifully illustrated look at working book artists. Some of them will be familiar to readers of this magazine--in the past we have featured the work of Brian Dettmer, Guy Laramee, and Jeremy May--while others no doubt have a following among artists, collectors, and dealers. Su Blackwell's book tableaux invite viewers into her captivating storybook world, while the intricacy of Julia Strand's three-dimensional collages are astounding. I have long enjoyed the bookish photography of Cara Barer, and it's nice to see large, color reproductions of some here. There are also great photos of the book sculptures left around Edinburgh by an anonymous artist in 2011. Her sculpture marking the publication of Ian Rankin's The Impossible Dead, showing a couple of paper skeletons drinking, smoking, and listening to records, is particularly striking.

If I had one gripe with the selection of artists presented here, it's that the focus seems to be on younger artists, shunning the artists who, in many ways, created the field. For example, Doug Beube is one of the most experienced book artists in this book. He started altering books in 1979. (Beube is the subject of our winter issue's Book Art column.) On the other hand, reading up on the newer artists is ideal for collectors.  



Cara Barer, Guy Laramee, Jeremy May, Julia Strand, Su Blackwell, alyson kuhn, art made from books, book art, book artists, book review, brian dettmer, chronicle books, doug beube, laura heyenga
Penguin Classics to Release Morrissey's Autobiography
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Penguin Classics, well known amongst collectors for their editorial taste and iconic covers, will be publishing Morrissey's autobiography on Thursday in the United Kingdom. Morrissey, a colorful personality, was the lead singer for the classic British rock band The Smiths in the 1980s before launching a hugely successful solo career. Morrissey was - and still is - an icon of the counterculture movement, with legions of dedicated fans around the world.  In recent years Morrissey has become almost as well known for his dedication to animal rights movements.

Penguin's decision to publish the first edition of Morrissey's autobiography as a "classic" has sparked a great deal of controversy. The book, apparently, has not even been read by anyone outside of Penguin's team.

The Independent ran a scathing critique of Penguin's decision, with contributor Boyd Tonkin writing, "How do you wreck overnight the reputation of a global brand that, since 1946, has built up its worldwide trust on the basis of consistent excellence, expert selection and a commitment to pick and sell only the very best? Easy, really. You chuck 67 years of editorial rigour and learning out of the corporate window and kowtow to the whims of a petulant pop icon."

Reportedly, Morrissey only agreed to publish his autobiography with Penguin if they released it under their Classics imprint.  

In my opinion, Morrissey's arguable bluff - which obviously paid off - is so classically Morrissey, sparking admiration and condemnation in the same breath. I can't help but be amused at the audacity of the stunt.  It's such a violation of the previous editorial vision, that I'm stunned into a bemused silence.

Of course, all critical views aside, the book will sell in droves. But the decision to release the autobiography as an instant "classic" will be debated for some time to come.

In the meantime, Penguin Classics collectors out there will have another volume to add to their 1300+ collections.
Shoplifters of the Baltimore Area
Swann-Mugshot.jpgComing up this week at a photographs and photobooks auction at Swann Galleries are four lots of mugshot cards and albums from the collection of Mark Michaelson, editor of the 2009 book, Least Wanted. The intriguing item seen here is a wooden drawer with 46 catalogued mugshots of (mostly) female shoplifters in the Baltimore/D.C. area from 1936-1947. Each small silver print contains a typed caption describing the offender's age, physical characteristics, location, and crime. The estimate is $1,500-2,500.
Mark Michaelson, Swann Galleries, mugshot book, mugshots, photobooks
Guest Blog: A Trove of MLK, Jr. Material Surfaces
Guest Blog: A Trove of MLK, Jr. Material Surfaces by Bryan Booher of Heritage Auctions

The Civil Rights Movement was arguably the most pivotal event in twentieth-century American social history. And sadly, one of which I knew little (shhh, don't tell my boss!). When I was first presented with the prospect of researching and cataloguing an extensive--and I stress extensive--collection of Civil Rights material focused around, but not limited to, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), I was apprehensive. Sure, I knew the main players and some of the major events: Rosa Parks, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March on Washington, the "I Have a Dream Speech," and King's tragic demise in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. But I felt some reluctance because of my own ethnic background: I'm your typical white, middle-class, Anglo-Saxon (or close enough), Protestant. And I'm from the South. It sounds silly. I'm trained as an historian, how can that possibly present a problem? I suppose it's because of the profound impact the Civil Rights Movement has had, and continues to have, on American society. How do I convey genuine respect for something so central to the history of black Americans (and indeed all minority groups in the United States)? Then it dawned on me. No one is going to know my skin color, and it doesn't really matter. So I got the material and dove in head first. After doing some cursory research I realized this isn't just the story of African Americans fighting for equality. The movement is about freedom for ALL men, of all races, creeds, sex, and sexual orientation, with the black community taking the lead in that fight. I found myself, as I delved deeper, both fascinated from a historical perspective and inspired as a human being.  

This particular collection of items (over thirty-eight individual lots [lots 34512-34550], some of which I will highlight below) comes from the personal papers of one extraordinary woman, Mrs. Maude Ballou. She acted as Dr. King's personal secretary during his time in Montgomery as the national face of the bus boycott (December 1, 1555, through December 20, 1956) and pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. She was also his close friend. Ballou has kept these treasures for over five decades, and she has some awesome stuff! Here are some of my personal favorites.

MLK-Notecard.jpgIn late 1959, Dr. King had decided it was time to move back to his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, and take the reins as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference full-time (he had actually led the group since 1957 and would continue to do so until his death). He broke the news to his parish and said farewell in the form of a speech. We are beyond excited to have the actual notecards containing the talking points (pictured above) for that very speech, written entirely in the hand of Dr. King!

As a student of Gandhi's principles of non-violent civil resistance, Dr. King went on a five-week tour of India in February 1959. Ever the busy body, he sent letters home to Ballou directing affairs of the movement in his absence. We have two of those important letters; one is dated February 27, 1959, the other is undated, but from around the same time.  

Looking for something a little more unique? How about the first letter opener used by the MIA during the bus boycott or the 1957 desk calendar used at MIA headquarters? The calendar is exceptional in that it contains notes for meetings with politicians, including then Vice President Richard Nixon and fellow civil rights and religious leaders such as E. D. Nixon, Bayard Rustin, and Billy Graham, plus Dr. King's speaking engagements, appointments, etc.

Walking.jpgOne thing that never occurred to me was the existence of opposition to the bus boycott, not by the white community, but by members of the black community. I was astounded to discover a flyer titled "Are You Tired of Walking?" (pictured above) accusing the leaders of the boycott of "playing us for suckers while they get rich on our money" and expressing the cynical attitude that "there isn't a chance in the world of breaking segregation in Montgomery." How wrong they were!

Bryan Booher is manager of historical manuscripts & Texana at Heritage Auctions in Dallas.

Images Courtesy of Heritage Auctions.
Montgomery Improvement Association, Montgomery bus boycott, archives, bryan booher, heritage auctions, historical manuscripts, martin luther king jr., maude ballou
Bright Young Librarians: Meghan Constantinou
Our series profiling the next generation of special collections librarians continues today with Meghan Constantinou of the Grolier Club in New York City.

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How did you get started in rare books?

I have always felt grounded by objects. As an undergraduate, I majored in studio art and then moved on to working with prints at a commercial art gallery (Childs Gallery, Boston) and museum objects  at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. I fell in love with rare books while doing my Master's Degree in Art History at the University of Delaware, where my thesis focused on a medieval manuscript. I felt stimulated and challenged by the multi-dimensionality of medieval manuscripts--the manner in which they combined art, penmanship, text, literature, language, and functionality. From there, my interests naturally flowed into printed books. It was actually my advisor who suggested I look into rare book librarianship. Since I had always seen myself as a future museum professional, librarianship had never entered my thoughts. However, as soon as I started exploring the field, I knew immediately that this was the right path for me. Not only would it bring me into regular contact with the types of objects I loved most, but there was a focus on service and outreach that really appealed to me. I also felt liberated by the breadth of special collections work--the promise that I would be constantly exposed to new and different types of things. I started volunteering at the Rosenbach Museum & Library and the Rare Book Department of the Free Library of Philadelphia to learn more about the field. When I moved to New York City to get my library degree, I was fortunate to get a job as Library Assistant at the Grolier Club, which put me in a great position to apply for my current job as Librarian.

What is your role at the Grolier Club? What is a typical day like?

My official title is Librarian. I am responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Club's research library, which consists of approximately 40,000 general monographs on the history of the book; 150,000 antiquarian bookseller and auction catalogs; 10,000 rare books; 10,000 prints, drawings, and photographs; and 1,500 linear feet of archives and manuscripts. I administrate all of the activities relating to technical services, public service and outreach, and collections management. I also do small library exhibitions and tours on a regular basis, and I am in charge of collection development for our general collection. Since we have a small staff of only three and a half, I am directly involved "on the ground" with all of these activities, which lends the job an endless amount of variety. There is definitely no typical day. One moment I might be engaged in strategic planning, another I might be teaching a class, and another I might be cataloging recent rare acquisitions. 

How is it working as a librarian for a private club in comparison to an academic institution?

Working for a private club has been an incredibly rewarding experience. There is a vibrant social aspect to the job that is really unique. Through my work in the library, along with Grolier Club lectures, seminars, and social gatherings, I have had the chance to develop close relationships with many of the members, who embraced me from the start as one of the family. There is a feeling of fellowship, camaraderie, and mutual passion that permeates the Club, and it is exciting to be at the center of it.

Favorite rare book/ephemera that you've handled?

This is a tough one. One of the qualities that characterizes many special collections librarians is our passionate interest in all kinds of "stuff," whether it's a beautifully illustrated incunable or a badly printed broadside. I'm most drawn to objects that have a strong human element. The Grolier Club has a fantastic collection of private library manuscript catalogs that excites me a lot. I like comparing the different organizational schemes, handwriting styles, papers, bindings, etc. You can learn a lot about a person by the way they've organized their books and how they've chosen to physically document them, particularly in the intimate space of a manuscript. I was once updating the cataloging on an attractive eighteenth-century French manuscript catalog that we had recorded only as belonging to "Madame La Vallière." When I checked the title page, I noticed that her honorific, "La Duchesse," had been systematically crossed out. As I did more research, I learned that Madame La Vallière was the wife of the famous bibliophile, Louis-César de la Baume le Blanc, Duc de la Vallière (1708-1780), and that she was arrested during the Reign of Terror on September 11, 1793 at the age of nearly 80. Nobody knows what happened to her after her arrest, but this manuscript survived as part of her story. It gave me a chill. 

What do you personally collect?

Recently, I started collecting bookplates designed for women. I am interested in both women's histories and the graphic arts, and bookplates are a perfect combination of the two. I also enjoy biographical research and hope to be able to learn more about the women whose bookplates I have collected. I like looking at the different designs and thinking about the women who commissioned them. Plus, they don't take up too much space in my small New York City apartment!

What excites you about rare book librarianship?

There is a sense of wonder at the core of this work that never ceases for me. I have always been fascinated by how our experience of the world is mediated through the objects that we encounter and create, and rare book librarianship allows me to explore that question in a meaningful way every day. I am also excited by having the opportunity to connect people with objects. There is nothing that beats seeing my own passion for historical objects reflected in the face of a visitor. There is something universally human about the tactility of these books, and in a classroom setting these connections can feel almost palpable at times. 

Thoughts on the future of special collections librarianship?

I think a key word for the future is access. Special collections librarians are working hard to dispel the perception that their collections exist under lock and key. The emphasis on access has been facilitated in many ways by new technologies, such as the web and digitization, which allow our objects to perform more dynamically for wider audiences. For many of us, it is no longer enough to simply house and preserve the objects under our care. We have to prove the relevance of our collections to a degree that I suspect is unprecedented, and this is inspiring a lot of creative, out-of-the-box thinking.  

Another issue we are grappling with as a profession is the advent of born-digital materials. At the Grolier Club, we are known for our unparalleled collection of antiquarian bookseller and auction catalogs, which provides a valuable primary resource for scholars interested in the history of the book trade. However, much of the material generated by the trade now comes in the form of online catalogs, pdf lists, and dynamic websites. How do we document, archive, and provide access to these new formats in a sustainable way? This is just our version of a larger problem that many special collections librarians are dealing with now on a regular basis. 

Any upcoming exhibitions?

I do small library exhibitions three or four times a year, which are open to members and outside researchers visiting the library by appointment. These exhibitions are always drawn from our collections, and give me a great opportunity to explore our stacks and do a little research. Right now, I am showing "Private Press Editions of Chaucer in The Grolier Club Library," from Sept. 9 to Dec. 20, 2013.

However, the Grolier Club also has a very active public exhibitions schedule, and all of those exhibitions are free and open to everyone. In our main gallery, we are showing "Extraordinary Women in Science & Medicine: Four Centuries of Achievement," which explores the legacy of thirty-two remarkable physicists, chemists, astronomers, mathematicians, and medical doctors (Sept. 18-Nov. 23, 2013). After that, we will be showing "Selling the Dwelling: The Books that Built America's Houses, 1775-2000," curated by Richard Cheek (Dec. 11, 2013-Feb. 7, 2014). In our second floor gallery, we are showing, "William Everson: Poet, Printer & Monk, from the Collection of Nicholas Scheetz" through Nov. 1, 2013. Information about all of our exhibitions (past, present, and forthcoming) and related activities may be found on our website.  
Bizarre Beat Offerings at PBA
All manner of rare, signed, and/or inscribed books and little magazines from the likes of William S. Burroughs, John Fante, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, and Allen Ginsburg hit the auction block tomorrow in San Francisco. So it seems unfair to highlight the non-book oddities on offer, but they're just so ...  far-out.

Burroughs Bottle.jpgLot 65 is an empty prescription drug bottle from Burroughs' medicine cabinet. Instead of liquid methadone, the bottle now contains a few stones from Burroughs' gravesite and a .45 caliber bullet casing from his shotgun. The estimate is $600-900.

Burroughs List.jpgLot 66 is a list, c. 1989, on lined notebook paper on which William S. Burroughs has enumerated his grocery needs, including honey, milk, saltines, and Lysol. The estimate is $500-800.

Kerouac check.jpgLot 141 is a $300 check written to the IRS, signed in full by John L. [Jack] Kerouac, and dated Dec. 14, 1963. The estimate is $1,000-1,500.

Tomorrow's auction is the first of PBA's three-part sale of collector Richard Synchef's counterculture and avant garde books and ephemera -- the second, in January, will feature books about drugs, and the third sale in May of next year will be dedicated to music, politics, and cartoon art.

Images via PBA Galleries.
Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, beat poetry, counterculture, inscribed books, little magazines, pba galleries, rare books, richard synchef, signed books
Unique Kennedy Manuscript at Auction
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On October 10th, Swann Galleries will offer at auction a manuscript memoir by Evelyn Marsh Jones, a Kennedy family servant. The manuscript entitled, "Remembrances of My Kennedy Years," was written after Jones retired in 1964.  It has never been published.

Jones (1906 - 1978) spent about ten years employed by the Kennedys on and off between 1932 and 1964. She served the family as a parlor maid and a household manager in both Hyannis Port and Palm Beach.

The memoir contains dozens of insightful anecdotes into domestic Kennedy family described by someone in a special position close to the family. Such anecdotes include a time when Caroline Kennedy interrupted a press conference by walking onto the White House patio wearing her mother's high heels. Jones also writes that the Kennedy family was able to "help themselves, if necessary," adding that Rose Kennedy "often came out and dried dishes so I might get away a little earlier."

Jones saw President Kennedy for the last time eight days before his assassination in 1963. The final visit in Palm Beach is affectionately described in a lengthy passage.

Swann Galleries added in its catalogue entry, "Even leaving the Kennedy connection aside, this is a worthy account of life as a parlor maid and household manager for one of America's most distinguished families. The hard work, last-minute improvisations, staff turnover, and parties with famous guests are all described in detail."

The unique manuscript is estimated at $2,000 - $3,000. 


Searching for Serendipity in Cyberspace

Recently I wrote about the Folio Society's new edition of Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant and Other Stories. (Check out some of the book's illustrations here http://bit.ly/1fMGzm0 and the story here bit.ly/18H9MuZ.) Greenaway Medal winner Grahame Baker Smith created the illustrations.  


After my story went up,  I wandered the Twittersphere until I unintentionally stumbled upon the illustrator's Twitter handle. In 140 characters I asked him if he would discuss perfecting his craft, inspiration, and future projects. He agreed, and below is our conversation, happily unrestricted by character limits.

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THE SELFISH GIANT Copyright © 2013 by Grahame Baker-Smith. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, The Folio Society, London. 


Could you tell me how you prepared for this commission?


A couple of coincidences actually prepared me for this commission, not the other way around. In early 2012 I was reading Richard Ellmann's biography of Wilde, (a fabulous work of literature in its own right) which chronicles the extraordinary and poignant life story of Wilde.  At that time I also received a letter from a man named Nicholas Wilde inquiring about the illustrations I made for the 2011 Folio edition of Pinocchio. Nicholas Wilde is a book collector and he particularly enjoys illustrated editions. We exchanged a few letters before I finally asked if he was by any chance related to Mr. Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde. In fact, he is very distant cousin, and suggested that I ask Folio if they would like to do an edition of Oscar's stories. Since the Folio Society is always open to suggestions they seized the opportunity.


What inspired your illustrations for this book?


The stories are what inspired me, it's always the story and then - after lots of reading and making notes - I just start drawing and see what happens.


How long did it take to complete the images?


Each image took about a week to a week and a half, spread out over a period of about six months.


You are self taught. Can you describe how you became an artist?


I always loved art at school but didn't get great marks for it (or anything else). I had a couple of jobs after leaving school but soon realised the 'work' thing wasn't going to light me up! A period of unemployment became a time of complete obsession with drawing and painting. Sometimes it was very lonely, but my dream of doing this - and only this - became a powerful motivating force to practice, practice, practice and get good, something I'm still trying to do. So, I didn't really become an artist - there just wasn't an option to do anything else with my life! I still feel the same now, there is a cost in following your dreams but any other path seemed to me as a waste of life.


Do you have a favorite medium?


I have worked in most mediums at various times in my career - acrylic, watercolor, gouache, pastel, charcoal pen and ink. When I started using Photoshop five or six years ago I found it incredibly exciting to be able to mix virtually anything together. I still use a lot of drawing and other traditional methods, but usually it all gets filtered and composited through Photoshop.  For example, I used Photoshop techniques in the Wilde illustrations. It's a part of the process now, just as drawing or painting is. 


What would you like to illustrate next?


I would love to illustrate some Edgar Allen Poe next, and do more fiction book covers, for some reason I don't often get asked to do them. I'm also writing a novel for Templar (who published FArTHER) which will have black and white illustrations.


What are you working on now? 


I have formed a company called MisFits with my wife Linda, who is also an illustrator and designer. It's a family affair; our 17 year old son is a brilliant coder for iOS and is helping us tremendously. We are using MisFits to develop story apps for iPad. We create apps from the idea phase to story, plot the flow-through and wireframe it, create the interface, artwork and animation and then code in the function and interactivity - all in-house! This is a really interesting challenge and it is amazing to weave animation and sound into a story. In terms of the artwork, we maintain the same standards as are applied to print books.  We are also actively finding other ways around the awful 'page turn' effect, a totally redundant feature in page-less applications.


I feel the creative possibilities are enormous but it seems a very natural progression to make. We want to make something beautiful and hopefully inspiring - that goal never changes.


I'm not turning my back on books though. I love books more and more as I get older and feel there is an awful lot more to do in print. I never want to give up illustrating books. To me, every day, it is a great joy and privilege to be involved in the world of story-telling.



 

Grahame Baker Smith, Selfish Giant, The Folio Society Richard Ellmann
Collegiate Book Collectors: Elias Serna
In August, the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America announced the 2013 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest winners. First prize went to Elias Serna of the University of California-Riverside, Ashley Young of Duke University won second prize, and Amanda (Mande) Zecca of Johns Hopkins University took third. 

Because this contest was launched by FB&C back in 2005, we continue to take an active interest in it. To that end, I asked each of this year's three winners to complete a shortened form of our 'How I Got Started' interview (which usually runs on the magazine's back page) to tell us more about them and their book collection(s).

Elias Serna.jpgUp today is first-prize winner, Elias Serna of UC, Riverside, pictured here at left.

Age: 45

Residence: Santa Monica, CA

Main area(s) you collect: Chicana/o Studies, Chican@ Movement literature, rhetoric, polemics

Number of volumes in your collection: 52 books, pamphlets, magazines, 2 videos, one poster.  

When did you start collecting: My first Chicano books are from my senior year in high school when my older brother brought home Betita Martinez' classic, 500 Years of Chicano History in pictures (it was called 450 Years at the time; I own both editions). In college, I was inspired by the literature in Chican@ Studies classes, as well as Berkeley's fine bookstores, to continue collecting.

Most recent acquisition: The Chicanos, by Rius. Rius is a famous Mexican cartoonist, known for initiating the "... for beginners" books, such as Marxism for Beginners, Cuba for beginners, etc.. The Chicanos is an obscure 1972 comic book-style portrait of Chicano history and their struggle, published by NACLA (North American Congress on Latin America).

Holy grail: Several texts, but I'll single out 4 big ones: activist/author Elizabeth "Betita" Martinez' 450 Years of Chicano History in Pictures (1976) is a visual-historic classic, what started it all for me, currently at the top of the list of banned books in Arizona's anti-Ethnic Studies law. Second is Rudolfo Acuna's Occupied America, called by Chicano activists "the Chicano bible." I read the 2nd and 5th editions cover to cover, and I'm mentioned in the preface of the most recent 7th edition. I also have a signed copy of the first formal printing of Corky Gonzales' I Am Joaquin (1967). Another is a clean rare first edition of El Plan de Santa Barbara (1969), the manifesto credited with inspiring the creation of Chicana/o Studies departments and programs nationwide.

Favorite bookseller: Raul Salinas' Resistencia Bookstore (San Antonio), Tia Chucha's Bookstore (LA/San Fernando), Libreria Martinez Books (Santa Ana, CA)

Future plans (for you & your collection): I'm displaying my Chicano Movement Book collection at the Tomas Rivera Library (UC Riverside), and possibly at my local library, Santa Monica Main Library. I am also writing articles/essays on my collection's connection to the attack on Ethnic Studies in Arizona, particularly the ban on Chican@ Literature and Shakespeare's The Tempest. My performance comedy group Chicano Secret Service is writing a multi-media performance piece on Raza Studies in Arizona. Lastly, I've collaborated with artist JohnAvalos of UC Riverside to create "Xican@ Pop-Up Books," short illustrated and tactile zines, that demonstrate the importance and current struggle around Chican@ Studies and literature. Our motto is: "You can Ban Chicano Books, but They'll Still Pop Up!"

display day one.jpgA display of Serna's collection at the Tomas Rivera Library is seen above. You can read more about his collection here.

For those in and around Washington, D.C., an awards ceremony to celebrate these young collectors will take place on October 18, 2013 at 5:30pm at the Library of Congress (if the Library of Congress has re-opened by then; it has been closed due to the government shutdown since Oct. 1) and includes a lecture by noted collector and scholar Mark Samuels Lasner. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Images: Courtesy of Elias Serna.
Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America, Betita Martinez, Elias Serna, Tomas Rivera Library, book collecting contest, chicano studies, university of california riverside